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Jeremy Carl, President Donald Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, withdrew his nomination Tuesday after facing bipartisan criticism over past comments about race, religion and Israel.
Carl, a conservative commentator and senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, wrote on X he lacked the unanimous Republican support needed to advance his nomination out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was nominated to the State Department role by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“I am withdrawing my nomination for consideration as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs,” he wrote Tuesday afternoon. “I am tremendously grateful to President Trump for nominating me and then (upon expiration of my original nomination) renominating me for this role, and I am also grateful to Secretary Rubio and his team for their continued support throughout this long and time-consuming process.”
Republicans hold a 12-10 majority on the panel, meaning a single GOP defection would result in a tie vote and block the nomination from moving to the full Senate.
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“Unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming,” Carl wrote, adding that he did not want the administration to “waste valuable time and energy” attempting to change the outcome.
During his confirmation hearing last month, senators pressed Carl on previous remarks concerning “White identity,” immigration and Israel. Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said afterward that Carl was not the “right person to represent our nation’s best interests in international forums,” citing what he described as anti-Israel views and insensitive comments about Jewish people.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., questioned Carl about his references to “White identity” and what he believed was being “erased.” Carl responded that he was concerned about the erosion of what he described as a majority American culture due to mass immigration, saying he stood by those comments. Murphy later called him a “legit White nationalist” on social media.
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Carl rejected that characterization, saying he is “not a White nationalist” and that his remarks referred to a broadly shared American culture that people of all backgrounds could embrace.
“Unfortunately, for senior positions such as this one, the support of the President and Secretary of State is very important but not sufficient,” Carl added on X. “We also needed the unanimous support of every GOP Senator on the Committee on Foreign Relations, given the unanimous opposition of Senate Democrats to my candidacy, and unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming.”
The position Carl was nominated for oversees U.S. engagement at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations. He previously served as a deputy assistant interior secretary during Trump’s first term.
“I remain extremely confident in President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and the rest of the outstanding team at State (a group of leaders that includes many close friends),” Carl concluded on X. “I know they will continue to pursue a foreign policy that puts America first, and that they will work to ensure America is able to exercise its power and influence in the world like never before.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the State Department for comment and has not heard back.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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